Apple has just unveiled the Apple TV 4K and duh, it now supports 4K. Not just that, the new Apple TV also supports 4K HDR. And since the new Apple TV now supports 4K, it requires a more powerful hardware inside. Well, the new Apple TV 4K now runs on A10X processor which is also running on the iPad Pro. And if you’re buying HD movies from iTunes, Apple will automatically upgrade those to 4K HDR for free.
The Apple TV 4K will start at $149 and it will come with 32GB of Internal Storage
Apple has just upgraded the Apple Watch today and Apple seems to be happy with their wearable as this one has a 50% YoY growth and it is currently the #1 watch in the world beating the popular watch brands such as Rolex and Casio. The Apple Watch Series 3 will now come with cellular built-in. Yes, you can now leave your iPhones at your home while you jog or probably buy a soy sauce on the nearest store as the new Apple Watch Series 3 will now support cellular with the same number from your iPhone.
Not only that, you can also connect to your Airpods to the Apple watch and listen to Apple music. Apple has also upgraded the processor which is now 70% faster but 50% more power efficient. So how does this one have cellular built-in? Well, this watch has an e-sim inside. Oh and yeah, it will now sport WatchOS
The Apple Watch Series 3 starts at $329 while the cellular version will start at $399. Unfortunately, Philippines isn’t included in the list of countries that will get the Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular.
Acer Philippines has just launched their all new pre-assembled CPU with AMD Ryzen 7 processor in the country. The GX-281’s Ryzen 7 Processor features a 3.4GHz base clock speed, 8 CPU cores with 16 threads and an Extended Frequency Range.
The Acer Aspire GX-281 also features an armor-shaped housing with red LED lights. Not only that, the PC will also come with monitor that supports freesync and also the latest Radeon RX580 GPU for gaming. But despite that, this doesn’t belong to the Acer Predator line.
The Acer GX-281 comes in two variants. The cheaper one comes with Ryzen 5 1600 processor, Radeon RX580, 8GB DDR4, 256 GB SSD + 1TB HDD, Windows 10, 23.6-inch 75Hz FreeSync Monitor and it is priced at Php 74,999.
While the more expensive variant comes with Ryzen 1700X processor, Radeon RX580, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, Windows 10, and a bigger 24.5-inch 144Hz FreeSync Monitor which is priced at Php 96,499.
The Ryzen Processors inside these machines are not only great for gaming but also for productivity as there are many applications now that support and are faster with multicore. The RX580 inside these PCs are pretty powerful too as this can run most of the latest games at highest settings without a problem.
Xiaomi has announced three devices today and one of them is a laptop — the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro. It’s a 15-inch notebook and it boasts a high performance that competes with the likes of the Macbook Pro as this one packs the 8th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor, a neat design, and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU.
Unlike the Macbook Pro, the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro doesn’t lack in ports as this one comes with 2x USB-C, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI Port, SD Card Reader and an Audio Jack. The display is only at 1080p that’s still ain’t bad for a Windows notebook. There’s also a fingerprint scanner on the touchpad too.
I wished this notebook had a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 GPU for a better performance instead of the MX150 which can be found on the Mi Notebook Air 13 too.
The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro comes in Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 variants. Here are the full specifications of each variant and their price.
Xiaomi has just unveiled the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 alongside with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. The Mi Note 3 is basically a larger Xiaomi Mi 6 but we got a different processor running inside the smartphone. But don’t worry because the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 is still affordable and yet powerful.
There’s a bigger 5.5-inch display and there’s the dual lens camera at the back that lets you have bokeh-effect shots. The Xiaomi Mi Note 3 is also running on Snapdragon 660 processor which is the latest and most powerful in the Snapdragon 600 series.
The Xiaomi Mi Note 3 comes in 64GB, 128GB Black, & 128GB Blue Variants comes in RMB 2499 (Php19,495), RMB 2899 (Php 22,616), & RMB 2999 (Php 23,396)
The displays on our smartphones are getting even more ridiculous. Xiaomi has just announced the Mi Mix 2 and golly wow, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2’s display looks even better than the predecessor as this one has a lesser chin, cleaner look, and a better hardware. The Mi Mix 2 now features a smaller 18:9 5.99-inch display but because of its change in display ratio, the Mi Mix 2 is now ergonomic and taller.
Despite having a small bezel, the smartphone still manage to have a front camera which is placed on its chin and also an earpiece at the top. The smartphone also comes with a powerful hardware inside as the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor inside and also 6GB of RAM.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 also packs a 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 sensor at the back and unfortunately, there’s no dual camera on the back unlike the Xiaomi Mi 6.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Specifications
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will come in 6/64GB, 6/128GB, & 6/256GB variants with a price tag of RMB 3299 (Php25,707) , RMB 3599 (Php28,045) , & RMB 3999 (Php31,162) respectively.
The ASUS FX series notebooks are the affordable gaming notebook series of the Taiwanese company. It may not be a member of the Republic of Gamers notebook series but the FX series of ASUS still got some power as these notebooks come with dedicated GPUs. So what’s the difference between the two? Well, the ASUS ROG Gaming got a different chassis and more features
The ASUS FX Series starts at P39,995 and it will already come with 15-inch Full HD display, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD, Windows 10, and RX460 GPU. But the bang for the buck notebook in the FX series is the FX553VD. It comes with an Intel Core i5-7300HQ Processor, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD, GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 GPU, and it comes with Windows 10.
You can also go for the ASUS FX502VM that comes with the powerful Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Windows 10, and GTX 1060.
The gaming notebook competition is about to get hotter as ASUS Philippines has recently teased the arrival of the ASUS ROG Notebook powered by AMD Ryzen, the ASUS ROG GL702ZC. This is the first AMD Ryzen powered notebook and we first saw this notebook running at Computex. It is no different from other notebooks when it comes to aesthetics but inside, you got an AMD Ryzen 1700 8-core processor. You can check out what we think of the AMD Ryzen-powered notebook here:
https://jamonline.ph/asus-rog-strix-gl702zc-first-ryzen-powered-gaming-laptop/
We still don’t have any idea that much when it comes to pricing but again, it’s really interesting to see an AMD Ryzen-powered notebook competing in the Intel-dominated notebook industry.
The ASUS ROG GL702ZC will be launching this September in the Philippines.
Cherry Mobile has a lot of smartphone offerings but despite that, each of their smartphones has a unique selling point. In the affordable category, you can barely see the difference between those smartphones. Well, one of their smartphones, the Cherry Mobile Flare J1, stands out in the tough business as the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 does have a really tough and strong display. Interested? Well, let’s check out the other aspects of the smartphone aside from its display.
Well guys, what can you expect on an affordable smartphone like the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017? It isn’t the cheapest smartphone in the market but it is definitely affordable and a smartphone made for masses. The smartphone is made up of plastic and at the back, you can see the plastic faux leather. The build quality of the smartphone isn’t the most ideal even at its price range.
The smartphone has a slightly thick build but don’t worry because the smartphone is still ergonomic thanks to its curved back which fits perfectly on our hands. While on the front, you can see the three capacitive buttons below the screen and unfortunately, these buttons don’t light up.
Compared to most smartphones these days, the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 has a removable back and you can only see this feature mostly on smartphones that are below P5,000. Inside the smartphone is the removable 2300mAh battery, the two sim card slots, and also the MicroSD card slot.
The power button and the volume rocker of the smartphone are rightly placed on the right side of the smartphone while the 3.5mm audio jack and the micro USB slot are placed on the top of the smartphone. Unfortunately, the placements of these ports are too close to each other and you cannot fit in a micro USB port and also the earphones at the same time.
The unique selling point of this smartphone is its display. The Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 got a 5-inch display. Before we talk about how tough the glass of the display is, let’s talk about the quality of the display first.
Well, the display of the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 isn’t really the best one the industry and you can really notice that the smartphone’s display is a little bit washed out. The quality isn’t that good even at its price range and you can notice that the color reproduction isn’t on point and you don’t have a really good viewing angles on this one.
But here’s the feature that you cannot on most smartphones. The toughness of the display of the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 is just really amazing. If you’ve seen my unboxing and hands-on of the smartphone before, you’ve probably seen how tough the smartphone is when I smash the smartphone on the edge of the wooden table and also when I dropped it on the floor. Yep, no breaks and no cracks. The display of the Cherry Mobile Flare J2 is really damn tough.
The smartphone is not really a performer but that’s already expected on a smartphone with a really affordable price. Inside the smartphone is a 1.3GHz Spreadtrum SC7731 Quad-Core processor and also a 1GB of RAM. It’s not an ideal processor for performance but it can do its job if you’re just planning to use the smartphone for light and casual apps.
However, if you’re planning to use the smartphone for heavy gaming then you might have a problem. I’ve used the smartphone for Mobile Legends and yes, the smartphone can run the game, however, don’t expect that the smartphone can run the game smoothly and at enjoyable frame rates. Well, better to stick to your light and casual games when you get the Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017.
Well, don’t expect too much from its camera. The smartphone packs an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and then there’s the 5-megapixel front camera. Again, the camera of the smartphone isn’t really a performer and since you’re buying a very affordable smartphone, expect that it won’t perform as expected. The Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 takes shots that are a little bit overexposed and I noticed sometimes are a little bit oversaturated. Check out the photos that I took using the smartphone below:
The smartphone is definitely for people who are just looking for an affordable smartphone. Well, there are actually a lot of smartphones that are in the affordable line but this one stacks up against most smartphones when it comes to the toughness of the display. But the rest of the hardware? Well, nothing so much special about it but I wish they could improve it in the next generation.
So who do I think will buy this smartphone? Well, if you’re not into games and you just want a cheap and affordable Android smartphone that is really tough because you keep on breaking the display of the smartphone, well, here you go.
The Cherry Mobile Flare J1 2017 is now available for P2,699
We saw the Vivo Y69 a few days ago at a Vivo Kiosks and finally, Vivo has finally launched the Vivo Y69 in the Philippines. The smartphone is a mid-range smartphone and despite its affordable price, the smartphone is actually a selfie-centric smartphone as this one packs a 16-megapixel front camera and also the smartphone still packs some punch as this mid-range smartphone runs on MediaTek MT6750 processor and also 3GB of RAM.
The smartphone also runs on Android 7.0 Nougat now compared to other Vivo smartphones and yes, the design of the smartphone is better than the previous Vivo smartphones as this one is cleaner however, the smartphone is still made up of plastic.
The display might be the same 5.5-inch HD display but I noticed that the display of the Vivo Y69 is even better than most smartphones with the same display. It’s bright and the color reproduction of the display was quite great.
The camera of the smartphone might be the same but in my short usage, I noticed that they’ve improved their camera and the selfies that I got produces better colors and better skin tones.
The Vivo Y69 is now available for P10,990. You can check out our short live hands-on of the Vivo Y69 below.
